I had an awesome weekend with Andrew visiting. He got in on Thursday at lunchtime. His guest room here at Lincoln College appeared to have been built for a hobbit. That first afternoon, the two of us climbed the tower in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. We took pictures, and I pointed out where some important things are in the city. Then, a group of us went punting. Andrew and I were in a boat with Cristina and Ali. It was slow-going for a while (we got made fun of, but we enjoyed our leisurely pace!). Things were much quicker when Andrew started punting. When we were done, Stevens (the Dean of European Studies) bought us all ice cream, and we walked back to Lincoln to get ready for dinner. We were on High Table with the faculty, so we had pre-dinner drinks on the lawn. At dinner, we were sitting next to a couple of my professors. The meal was smoked fish, cream of celery soup, duck, and chocolate cake. Quite delicious.

Friday was field trip day. We loaded onto the bus at 9:00 am and set off for Ewelme. We were looking at the church and the almshouses. They were built in the 15th century by the Duke of Suffolk- William de la Pole- and his wife, Alice (granddaughter of Geoffrey Chaucer). When we left Ewelme, we got back on the bus, ate our packed lunches, and headed to Fairford. We had a little time to walk around the village (not much there...) before meeting up at the church to have our lesson. The church there has the largest surviving collection of original medieval stained glass, so we went around and looked at all the windows. Then we got back on the bus to return to Oxford. After eating dinner, Andrew and I watched Beauty and the Beast before going out with Ali and Haley on a pub crawl. We started out at The Eagle and Child and went to a few other places after.

On Saturday morning, Argentina was playing Nigeria for the gold medal, so Andrew and I woke up at 6:00 am England time to watch it. Argentina won. Then we went back to bed until 11:00. We went to Boots for some Diet Coke, to Ben's Cookies for some tasty goodness, and then to Christ Church College for some Harry Potter magic. We ate lunch at Lincoln, and then caught a bus to Woodstock. We spent the afternoon at Blenheim- touring the palace, walking around the gardens and the park, looking at butterflies. The Winston Churchill exhibit had some letters that he wrote to his dad and a few of his paintings. It was fun times. We went back to Oxford and iChatted with Mom, Dad, and Claire. For Andrew's last night, we decided to get dressed up and go to a nice restaurant for dinner (Thanks, Grandmother!). We had a good meal and a glass of wine- it was very lovely. By the end, though, we were both exhausted. We walked back and went to bed almost immediately. Sunday morning, we went by McDonald's for a quick breakfast before Andrew left on a bus to Heathrow at 7:40. An excellent weekend, to be sure.

This week is going to be hardcore work time. We only have 4 more classes before this session ends and new courses start next week. So that means I have 2 papers, 2 tests, and a presentation between now and Thursday. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that we leave for a 3-day weekend in Dublin on Friday! Sweet.